i'd prefer Hillary to petraeus

[spanone]

seems like something the state department should be dealing with


Top U.S. military commander meets with Yemeni president

CNN) -- Gen. David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, met with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday in Yemen, according to a senior U.S. government source.

During the meeting with Petraeus, Saleh expressed his appreciation for the United States' help in combating extremists, the source said.

Saleh also offered more support for U.S. counterterrorism strikes and said he would continue providing assistance for the U.S. investigation into the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight on December 25.

The official said that Petraeus carried several messages and "various items" of information from Obama to Saleh. No further details were available.

The two men discussed the latest intelligence on al Qaeda in Yemen, the official said, adding that the number of attendees was very small on both sides.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/02/yemen.president.petraeus.meeting/index.html

[mdmc]

1. me too

[spanone]

2. war commanders think of war

[EFerrari]

3. Before Honduras, I probably would have agreed with you. n/t

[babylonsister]

4. That might depend on the Yemen's opinion of women. Sad but true.

And I've also read that Yemen is fighting their own fight...

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/yemen-steps-up-battle-against-alqaeda-20100103-lmrs.html

Yemen steps up battle against al-Qaeda

[spanone]

5. then it should be #2 in the state dept. imho

[babylonsister]

6. ?? I don't know what you mean by #2. nt

[spanone]

7. if it's their opinion of women... a male state department official....

:shrug:

[unhappycamper]

8. It is the goal of Africom to have some country on the African continent

host the Africom headquarters.

They've been stuck in Germany since the unit was stood up in 2007 or 2008. Well digging and hospital ship visits haven't done the deed. Drone strikes in Yemen haven't done the deed. Special Forces ops in Somali and Yemen haven't done the deed either. Perhaps Petraeus's chest full of medals will do the deed.

[KharmaTrain]

9. Apples & Oranges

Petreus is military...through and through. His concept of "diplomacy" is at the barrel of a gun. He speaks only for the military establishment...foreign policy is above his pay grade. His mission here was strictly as a military attache...and shows how corrupt and messed up things are in that country.

Yemen is yet another basketcase countries left in the wake of colonialism. It's never had a true centralized government and, sadly, diplomacy here means nothing as the central government in Sanaa has little authority over many of the southern areas where "Al Queda" operates. Remember, this is the country that had hijackers on the 9/11 planes.

If there was some diplomacy here, the SOS Clinton would and must take the lead...as she is on many other fronts, unfortunately Yemen is a dysfunctional "state" where a military solution (pre-emptive strikes and special forces) is the only avenue right now.